The invention relates to a gelatinous jellying product containing water, a sweetening agent and a jellying agent, and to the use of the product for preparing gelatinized products. The invention also relates to gelatinized products prepared by using the aforementioned jellying product. The invention describes especially an alcohol-containing gelatinized product that has been manufactured with a jellying product according to the invention. Other products include for example sweets, marmalade, dessert jellies and sorbets.
Jellying agents and jellying products based thereon are well known in the field. The central ingredient in these products is usually pectin, another common ingredient is an organic acid, such as citric or tartaric acid. In order to prepare a jelly, the jellying agent and possible other ingredients are first dissolved, and the dissolved jellying agent is blended for example with a mixture of berries or fruit for the purpose of preparing jam, and sugar is then added to the mixture. The two-stage preparation is due to the poor solubility of pectin. If the solids content of the mixture is too high, the pectin does not dissolve and no gelatinizing effect is achieved.
The use of pectin-containing jellying agents has been facilitated by forming dry mixtures containing sugar, pectin and possibly an organic acid. In order to prevent the dry mixtures from caking, the sugar crystals are usually coated with pectin or a mixture of pectin and an acid. The products are prepared with complicated multi-stage processes and the particle size of the ingredients is an important parameter in the preparation. Such dry jellying products containing pectin and the preparation thereof are described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,096; DE 1,275,853; DE 1,800,141; DE 3,516,111; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,429,660.
Gelatin is another jellying agent that is widely used. Gelatin is available in the form of dry powder and dried gelatin foils. During use, both tile powder and the foil are first dissolved in hot water and the obtained solution is then mixed with the food to be gelatinized. Gelatin has also been used in dry mixtures that contain a sweetener, flavourings, aromatic agents, colouring agents and preservatives in addition to gelatin, and that are used especially for preparing dessert jellies.
When the commercially available jellying agents and products are used, the jellying agent must be completely dissolved. This requires troublesome stages of dissolving and/or cooking where both the times and temperatures of processing the products are crucial parameters.
The present invention is based on a new kind of a jellying product that is gelatinous or substantially non-free-flowing at room temperature but that can be reversibly changed into a free-flowing stage simply by heating. The preparation process of the jellying product according to the invention is simple and the product can be easily used as an intermediate in the preparation of gelatinized products and after heating even as such.
The invention therefore relates to a gelatinous jellying product containing water, a sweetening agent, gelatin and possibly other ingredients.
The jellying product according to the invention is ready for use as such after heating. The preferred embodiment according to the present invention is, however, the use of the product as all intermediate in the preparation of different gelatinized products. Preferred final products according to the invention include alcohol-containing gelatinized products and especially alcohol-containing gelatinized drinks.
The invention therefore also relates to the use of the jellying product according to the invention for the preparation of gelatinized products, such as foodstuffs, beverages and sweets, and for baking. The product is suitable for use both on a small scale at home or at work and on a large scale in food, confectionery, beverage and stimulant-manufacturing industries.
The invention further relates to edible products, such as foodstuffs, bakery products, sweets and gelatinized drinks, containing a jellying product according to the invention.
A preferred embodiment of the invention is an alcohol-containing gelatinized product that is prepared by adding alcohol and possibly other usual ingredients to a jellying product according to the invention. These components can be added to the jellying product both during its manufacture and for example at home or in a restaurant to the basic product that has been made flowing by heating.
The invention also relates to a method for preparing gelatinized products by making the jellying product according to the invention free-flowing by heating, possibly by adding desired ingredients thereto and by allowing the flowing mixture to set.
The invention thus relates to a gelatinous jellying product that is characterized in that it contains water, a sweetening agent and gelatin.
The jellying product according to the invention contains gelatin as the jellying agent. Gelatin is a well-known protein that is obtained especially from the collagen-containing parts of animals, such as skin, bone and ossein. Gelatin is produced from this collagen-containing material by decomposition, usually by either acid hydrolysis or alkaline hydrolysis, and different types of gelatin can be prepared by changing the process parameters. Gelatin is defined generally with the so-called Bloom value that indicates the strength of the gel formed under certain circumstances. Gelatin formed by both acid hydrolysis and alkaline hydrolysis is suitable for the purposes of the invention, and the Bloom value can also vary. The Bloom value of the gelatin is preferably about 100 to 260 BL. As regards the Bloom value, it can be said that when harder gels are desired, such as in the preparation of home-made sweets, gelatin having a higher Bloom value is used, and on the contrary, when the final product can be more flowing, gelatin having a lower Bloom value can be used. The jellying product according to the invention contains about 0.5 to 25% of a jellying agent, preferably about 5 to 20%, more preferably about 6 to 16% and particularly about 8 to 12%, calculated as percentages from the jellying product. The amount used depends on the desired degree of gelatinization of the jellying product and the gelatinized product; the harder the gel is to be, the more gelatin is needed. The amount used also depends on the Bloom value of the gelatin; when gelatin having a higher Bloom value is used, the amount may be smaller.
The sweetening agent may be a conventional sugar, such as sucrose, glucose or fructose, an aqueous solution thereof, a starch syrup, isoglucose, a sugar alcohol, such as sorbitol, lactitol or xylitol, or a mixture thereof. The sugar can also be replaced with a mixture of a builder and a sweetening agent. The builder may be polydextrose or inulin and the sweetening agent may be an intensive sweetener, a carbohydrate sweetener or a mixture thereof. Advantageous sweetening agents include for example aqueous solutions of sugars, and mixtures of sucrose and invert sugar. The jellying product according to the invention, contains about 50 to 90% of a sweetening agent, preferably about 55 to 85%, more preferably about 60 to 82%, and particularly about 65 to 78%, calculated as percentages of the jellying product. In addition to producing a product that is ready for use, the addition of a sweetening agent also has other advantageous effects. Due to the sweetening agent, the structure of the gelatinous jellying product is stronger and the product has a longer shelf life.
The jellying product according to the invention may also contain other usual or even unusual ingredients. Examples of such ingredients include alcohol and alcoholic beverages, preservatives, acidity-regulating agents, aromatic agents, flavourings, fruit and berry products, seasonings and milk products. The quality and quantity of ingredients added to the jellying product car) be used to regulate the structure, taste and other properties of the final product as desired. The amount of these other ingredients can be as high as 60%, naturally depending on the quality and dry substance content of the ingredient to be added and on the desired properties of the final product.
The dry substance content of the jellying product according to the invention is preferably about 60% or more, more preferably 67 to 78%.
The jellying product according to the invention is very useful for different applications. The non-flavoured basic jelly consisting of water, a sweetening agent and gelatin is suitable for use for example in alcohol-containing jellies, desserts, bakery products and sweets. Depending on the use, it is possible to add to the jellying product, during either its preparation or use, for example an alcoholic beverage, juice, soft drink or some other mixer; berries or berry products, such as strawberry, blueberry, currant, boysenberry, and purees prepared from these berries; fruit or fruit products, such as cherry, apple, pear, plum, citrus fruit etc.; milk products, such as milk, cream, yoghurt etc.; flavourinigs such as cocoa, liquorice, ammonium chloride, mint oil or other ethereal oils, cinnamon, vanilla etc; aromatic agents, flavourings and colouring agents accepted for use in foods; or water. The jellying product according to the invention is gelatinous at room temperature. It has a pleasant taste, consistency and mouth-feel, it is non-adhesive and it is easy to use. The structure of the final products prepared with the jellying product can be adjusted with the amount and quality of the added ingredients from a free-flowing product to a solid gel.
An especially preferred embodiment is the use of the product in alcohol-containinig gelatinized products. The structure of the final product can then be adjusted also by means of the amount and quality of the alcohol added, so that it varies from a liquid to a solid gel to provide for example a usual liquid drink, a gelatinized edible drink or a dessert. The amount of the alcohol in the final product may vary from 1 to 35%. A suitable amount is determined on the basis of taste.
The use of the jellying product according to the invention for preparing gelatinized products is simple. The product is made flowing by heating it for example in a microwave oven, a kettle, in a water bath or in an incubator. In a preferred embodiment, the jellying product according to the invention is packed in such a way that it can be heated directly in the package which may be a container made of for example paper, plastic or glass. The desired ingredients are then added to the free-flowing jellying product, the mixture is left in the original package or moved to a container of a desired shape and size and allowed to set at room temperature or in a cold place. The present invention therefore provides for the first time a simple manner of preparing a gelatinized product by heating the jellying product according to the invention in its package, by adding ingredients according to taste, if desired, by mixing and by allowing the mixture to set again. By means of adding desired ingredients, new kinds of products can be prepared, for example especially alcohol-containing gelatinized products, and conventional gelatinized products, such as jam or marmalade, jelly sweets, dessert jellies, sorbet, bakery products, etc.